Newcastle trainer Nathan Doyle heads to Hawkesbury with a small but in-form team chasing a winning double.
The three-year-old was having her first start for Doyle when resuming from a spell at Hawkesbury two weeks ago where she finished a good second behind local filly Glassout over 1100m.
Exceed The Sky drops back slightly in trip when she contests the XXXX Gold Provincial Maiden Handicap (1100m) but Doyle isn’t concerned.
“It was a definite pass mark first-up and she has found a similar race this week with a good gate,” said Doyle.
Trainer Nathan Doyle (left) is hoping Exceed The Sky can go one better than her first-up run when she returns to Hawkesbury on Thursday. Picture: Getty Images
“She is a fast little filly so coming back 100 metres won’t worry her what so ever and she drops a little in weight so that can only enhance her chances.
“She has come on nicely since that run, she looks good in the coat and I’m happy with her heading back there.
“She is a BOBS filly so hopefully she can get a win on the board before she turns four (years old).
“She definitely has wins in store and hopefully her connections can have a bit of fun with her.”
The soft track at Hawkesbury didn’t prove a concern for the daughter of Deep Field and while Doyle feels she should handy the Heavy 8 conditions, he is hoping the track can get back to the soft range.
“She got through the Soft 7 okay last start and she’s not an overly big filly so that might help her,” he said.
“I would love to see an improving and hopefully we can get back to a Soft 7 again. That would be ideal.”
In the final event on the card, the Clarendon Tavern Midway Class 1 Handicap (1500m), Doyle saddles up Irish Bliss and Coastal Groove.
Irish Bliss was dominant in winning his maiden over 1600m at Kembla two starts ago when three-wide early before being sent forward to sit outside the leader and then kicking clear to win by two lengths.
At Scone last start, he sat three back on the rails and came out after the leader on straightening but raced greenly in finishing a length second to Rothrock.
“He has always shown us that he is a blinkers horse,” Doyle said.
“Last start at Scone, he probably through it away. He wanted to wander out and then wander back in.
“It’s like he has a monkey playing a tambourine up stairs at times.
“The blinkers have been applied and they have been quite effective at home so hopefully we can see an improved performance from a more focused horse.
“He’s definitely a progressive horse and this looks his right race from a good gate.
“He can put himself up on speed and have every opportunity.”
Coastal Groove also heads into this race with a win at Newcastle and a second at Scone from his last two starts.
“He has been a work in progress. He has always been a nice actioned horse but just lacked race craft and took a long time to pick up what it is all about,” he said.
“He is really starting to come on nicely now though.
“He kicked clear at Scone but probably needed someone to go with him a bit longer to keep him a bit tractable. He wanted to lay in and lay out when he was on his own.
“He is another who will roll forward and put himself up there.
“The way he has improved every time we have stepped him out and I’m sure he will improve again.”
THE TIDE HAS TURNED AND MISS CARTEL CAN CONTINUE HER WINNING WAYS
It may have taken Miss Cartel a few extra starts than trainer Angela Davies expected to break through for her maiden success but she wasted no time in landing a second win and is now poised to bring up the hat-trick.
The daughter of Caravaggio placed runner-up in three of her first five starts and was right on the heels of the placegetters when fourth in the other two.
Miss Cartel finally got that deserved victory with an all-the-way win from Grandini at Scone on June 11 before backing it up with a win from Extra Manners in a Class 1 at Taree two weeks later.
“So many times I thought she could have won her maiden but she kept bumping into something a little bit better,” said Davies.
“She came up against Kim Waugh’s good mare, Shadows Of Love, on debut and then ran into a couple of other handy ones along the way.
“I think she has finally matured now and found her way
“I expect her to get up over 1400 metres when ridden a bit quieter so she should be quite a nice horse once she is put away again and then brought back later in the year.”
The four-year-old is looking to stretch her winning form to three win when she contests the Horsepower Benchmark 66 (1280m) where he has drawn barrier 1.
“It won’t be easy after this meeting was pushed back a couple of days,” Davies said.
“It has mucked us up a little bit because we didn’t work her on Tuesday morning thinking she would be racing that afternoon.
“By the time the meeting was abandoned, the horses had been worked and put away. She had been washed and was eating her breakfast.
“It is a difficult thing thought with wet tracks this time of year. She should be fit enough to go though.”
Davies has reported that stable star Our Kobison is back in work a bigger, stronger horse and isn’t far off having his first trial.
The gelding has created a big impression winning five of his nine starts including back-to-back wins at Rosehill in January and February.
“We have taken him along slowly and he has got a top on him now that he never had before,” she said.
“He has really muscled up and looks terrific.”
“He will most likely trial on July 23 at Rosehill and will resume in a Benchmark 88 over 1000 metres at Randwick on August 10.”